Oh my gosh, a couple of hours before your presentation you realize that there is an error in the PPT that is on the iPad and you feel that you’ll have to edit it with your fingers.

Don’t panic, that’s what happened to me this week, while I was preparing to present at the ASUG Colombia event.

Keep reading the article and take a look on some tips about how to configure your PPT and remotely control your iPad with your iPhone, when you are at stage and impress your audience with your high tech skills.

Last week was a special Mobile week to me, because I decided to spend it using only my iPad. Started last Tuesday when I presented at

the Mobile Plus event only with my iPad controlling my presentation with my iPhone and ended with writing down this article on an airplane seat.

Let me tell you, carrying out 3kg less during the airport routine is a relief and kept me with that sensation that I was forgetting something, only that this time it was a good sensation.

Ok, let’s go through some topics around this simple act of carrying an interesting piece with you all the time, not only for your show time but also for working.

Taking care of content

It’s a fact, presenting with the iPad and iPhone in front of a couple hundred people impresses the audience, but also brings some risks, so preparing very well in advance is important.

Even though you can create a presentation on the iPad, I don’t recommend that because it wil take a lot of time.

Use the traditional Powerpoint, so that the creative process can flow easily. Don’t overuse animation effects or too different fonts, since that there’s a compatibility issue with the major presentation Apps available.

When building text boxes try always to make it larger than the text itself. This will avoid line breaking when you transfer the file to the iPad.

Don’t embedd media files in the presentation, since that most Apps don’t read them.

If after you transfer the file to the iPad you realize that effects are not what you can expect, you can always edit it with your fingers. As a matter of fact there are nice effects available on the iPad Keynote app.

By clicking on the slide items, you can group and ungroup, animate and define order, edit text, change postions and include pictures stored in the iPad. When you exist editor mode, Keynote saves your presenttion changes automatically.

Apps to think about

There are several apps in the market for presentations, but not all support iPhone remote controlling which adds an extra sofistication touch to your show.

The most traditional is the Keynote App (Apple) and it has the remote control that you can install on your iPhone.

This App is fair enough, since that it gives you the view of current and next slide and you can even control it with only one hand, which gives you a hand free in case there’s no lapel or headset mic available.

The App syncs with the iPad via WiFi or Bluetooth. It’s recommended that you get the access to the available WiFi network prior to the presentation, because it might take some time before you can sync the devices. I tried to sync via Bluetooth but I couldn’t since that this resource is not very good on these devices.

Once you sync it, it works pretty well during the entire presentation.

There are other apps in the market like Slideshark and 2 Screens Presentation, which are good if you control directly from your iPad, but that either don’t offer remote or don’t handle animations, which would kill your presentation.

Handling the files and content

This is an important step to prepare ahead. You can do it in multiple ways.

Transfer the files you”ll use via iTunes or use cloud based services like Dropbox. I personally prefer the 2nd because you can keep backup files on the cloud.

I trust the iPad now but it’s also wise to carry a backup pen drive just in case and/or send the PPT via e-mail to someone that will be with you, if you are travelling.

Once you have them on the iPad do a fine review if they are working well. PPTs tend to always have some minor issues. Also, transfer videos in the MP4 format or other accepted iPad formats.

If you are on stage with a limited time, give the videos to the media desk and ask them to play the videos from the central control, rather than you going to the iPad, quitting your presentation to play the video and going back afterwards.

If you don’t do this, it will consume time and maybe your concentration in case something goes wrong. This can breakdown your high tech presenter impression.

The moment arrives, show time

Oh yeah, it happens, you prepared and at the right time your iPhone doesn’t connect. Keep calm and work with event support to quickly figure it out.

Ask about the MIC available, hand or that lapel/headset type. You can choose your remote control format to change with one hand or use both (portrait or landscape mode).

When you arrive on premises it´s also good to look for WiFi connection for both devices, so that you can already sync them. Even if it works fine, go through the testing process a few minutes before you go to stage.

If your iPad and iPhone can’t sync, even after they were tested, try to remove the connection from the iPhone Keynote remote app and start over again. It connects prompting an unique pass code number, so it should work when you try it for the 2nd time.

When using videos, give them with numbers like Video1, Video2 to the control desk so that it’s easy for you to call them and for the event support to know their order rather than complicated names.

Take the VGA adapter cable with you for regular projectors or a HDMI adapter for LCD TV usage.

Make sure there will be a return screen available because you won’t be able to read your notes on the iPhone screen. If there isn’t, either know your presentation by heart or turn once in a while to read and recall the content of the slide.

Remember, your slides are a guide to your presentation and not for you to read them.

Once that everything is set up, bread deeply, go on to the stage, smile and enjoy your time.

A few assessories will help you with your mobile life.

Cable adapters, external keyboard, earphones and an iPad bag will make you a real mobile worker.

It’s a fact, these high tech tools are available and working pretty well right now.

It doesn’t matter if you are going in front of a large audience or if you want only to carry less weight around, but becoming a mobile worker brings you some nice opportunities, like writing this article in the flight back home.

Life is crazy (loca), but there’s a lot of fun when you want to share your experiences.